May’s plan appears headed for defeat
LONDON >> Brexit heated up again Wednesday, as Parliament resumed its debate of the withdrawal agreement Prime Minister Theresa May negotiated with the European Union. But British lawmakers didn’t appear to be any closer to approving a deal than they were before the holidays.
“Not a single dot or comma has changed,” said Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the opposition Labour Party.
May is “recklessly wasting time, holding the country to ransom with the threat of no deal in a desperate attempt to blackmail MPs to vote for her hopelessly unpopular deal,” he said.
“The only way to avoid no deal,” May retorted, “is to vote for the deal.”
May’s compromise version of what withdrawal would look like is up for a parliamentary vote Tuesday. It’s a vote May postponed in December when it was clear that she would face a major defeat.
May said she has been talking with European leaders about lawmaker concerns and will give Parliament fresh assurances before Tuesday. But the EU has said it is done negotiating, and Parliament is expected to reject the deal.
May needs 320 votes to get it through. Even if every lawmaker from her Conservative Party voted with her, she would still be short four votes. And some Conservatives appear poised to defect.
Andrew Mitchell, a Conservative former chief whip, made it clear during Wednesday’s debate that he won’t back the current deal, calling it “the worst common denominator.”
To speed up what happens next, lawmakers approved an amendment Wednesday requiring May to present Parliament with a Plan B by Jan. 21. Lawmakers would get a chance to vote on whatever she proposes, but they might also end up voting on alternatives that include a “managed no-deal Brexit” and a second referendum. The results of those additional votes wouldn’t be binding, but they would show the will of Parliament.
“It’s the start, I think, of an essential dialogue between government and Parliament to try and find a way out of the difficulties we are facing,” Dominic Grieve, the Conservative lawmaker who tabled the amendment, told the BBC.
It’s difficult to imagine, however, what sort of Brexit deal could get a majority backing.
Over the past year, Parliament has become more polarized, said Anand Menon, a professor of European politics and foreign affairs at King’s College London. That makes May’s job “very difficult, and it’s very, very hard to see what the outcome will be.”